Being able to see solutions

The problem I have is not having the ability to see solutions other than what I have experienced. Even though there are working solutions in form of patterns, it doesn't mean I can understand them enough to use them appriopriately. Do you see reading about Antipatterns is a way to gain a more understanding by looking at what when wrong and how it is resolved?

In fact, this is exactly why anti-patterns are needed. Reading a pattern book often doesn't make significant changes in one's work quality -- the most common outcomes seem to be 1) no change at all, and 2) patterns for patterns' sake. Reading about anti-patterns makes one see better what's wrong. That gives a better incentive to change than just showing a solution (even though the problem is discussed before showing the solution).

Yes, a solution to an anti-pattern is often a pattern of the same type (design patterns vs architectural patterns, for example). Sometimes the solution could be better described as "common sense"...

Jean Miles
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Joined: Aug 20, 2003
Posts: 53

posted Nov 18, 2003 12:06:00

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Originally posted by Lasse Koskela: In fact, this is exactly why anti-patterns are needed. Reading a pattern book often doesn't make significant changes in one's work quality -- the most common outcomes seem to be 1) no change at all, and 2) patterns for patterns' sake. Reading about anti-patterns makes one see better what's wrong. That gives a better incentive to change than just showing a solution (even though the problem is discussed before showing the solution).

I agree with Lasse, I found the reason most people including myself have a difficult time it not easy to see the solution in context of any problems they encounter. Is that why so many people end up doing it wrong because the problem is not completely understood until the code is done? I am told by some problem and model being defined is necessary before any code is written, then there are those that feel coding or hacking at it they will find out what out a clearer understanding of the problem.

Hi All, This is a great thread. Jean perhaps AntiPatterns will help you to see the problems and how to fix them. Another thing that your troubles say to me is that we need to get better at presenting the patterns in the first place. A Pattern needs to be focused so that it can be redily applied to a situation. All to often patterns are way to abstract to be of real use. One of the things that John Crupi (Core J2EE Patterns guy) is trying to do is make patterns and specifically J2EE patterns more accessable in the form of what he calls 'Micro Architectures'. The final section of the second edition has a micro-architecture to integrate workflow into a J2EE app. The approach is almost a cook book, its really worth the read. Another interesting point is that we often don't really grok some things until we look at it from another vantage point. Thus the value of expierence. If we build a big system we almost always get some things right and some things wrong. If we have and/or take the time to learn from what went well and what didn't we often learn it a lot better. Best of luck Jean!